The city of Coquitlam wants to be designated a Bear Smart Community in recognition of its work educating residents on avoiding bear-human conflicts.
Staff will apply to the Ministry of Environment for the status, which, if successful, would make the city the only Lower Mainland community with the designation; other municipalities with the designation are Kamloops, Whistler, Lions Bay, Squamish and Port Alberni.
According to a staff report, Coquitlam meets all the requirements set out by the provincial government.
The municipality has completed a bear hazard assessment, which provided 50 recommendations for reducing bear-human conflicts, and bear smart practices have been incorporated into city policies and neighbourhood plans.
A lengthy education program has also been implemented, with the most recent outreach effort involving the creation of a bear smart video, which can be viewed at www.bitly.com/bebearsmart.
(Much of the city’s bear education came from former urban wildlife co-ordinator Drake Stephens, who retired earlier this year. His job has not yet been filled.)
Residents who do not secure their garbage face stiff fines in Coquitlam, which issued 10 $500 tickets last year along with 664 notice of violations. So far in 2016, 509 notice of violations have been issued and 26 tickets.
“When bears get fed in our garbage, they get shot,” Mayor Richard Stewart said during Monday night’s council meeting. “It happens every year that conservation officers end up shooting bears because of our negligence… We can protect bears. We can keep them in the wild where they belong.”
MORE INFO
• For more information about the city’s urban wildlife program and for tips on how to be bear smart, go to www.coquitlam.ca/urbanwildlife.
@gmckennaTC
